More 2012: Today's races in NJ and NM

ARIZONA: “An ad in Arizona's special election to replace Democrat Gabrielle Giffords will no doubt raise some eyebrows,” USA Today writes. “The House Majority PAC, an independent group dedicated to electing Democrats, is out with an ad featuring GOP nominee Jesse Kelly calling Giffords ‘a hero of nothing.’” The special election in Arizona is June 12.

FLORIDA: “Sloppy bookkeeping and violating spending limits on federal and accounts in the 2008 campaign has gotten the Florida Democratic Party into trouble with the Federal Elections Commission,” the Tampa Bay Times reports.

MASSACHUSETTS: “Eager to appear more willing than his Democratic rival to face off on the issues, Senator Scott Brown said on Monday that he has accepted his second invitation to debate Elizabeth Warren on the radio,” the Boston Globe writes. “Warren, who has yet to accept an invitation, said she, too, is eager to debate Brown, but is waiting until her aides can meet with Brown’s aides to sort through the many invitations they have received. The early jockeying reflects the intense public relations battle surrounding the debate schedule.”

NEVADA: Jon Ralston points out a billboard from that says “Ronald Reagan -> Ron Paul! George Bush -> Mitt Romney?” Ralston: “I swear, folks: The Republicans here are better than any act on the Strip. It is not even close.”

NEW JERSEY: “New Jersey votes Tuesday in the GOP presidential primary, but the race that has drawn President Obama’s attention recently is an ugly clash between two long-serving Democratic congressmen thrown together after the state’s congressional district map was redrawn,” the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “Obama met Friday in the Oval Office with U.S. Rep. Steven Rothman, the first member of the state delegation to back his run for president in 2008. The two then strolled along the Rose Garden colonnade as photographers snapped pictures. The high-profile photo op gave Rothman a counterpoint to his opponent, Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, who held a get-out-the-vote rally with former President Bill Clinton on Friday in Paterson.”

“Combined, Rothman (D-8th District) and Pascrell (9th District) have spent millions of dollars in what is expected to be a close contest,” the (Newark) Star-Ledger writes. “Another New Jersey race being watched is the battle to fill the 10th Congressional District seat that had been occupied by U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, who died in March. … There are actually two elections on the ballot in the 10th District: A special election for the nomination to fill Payne’s seat from November to January, and another for a full term starting in 2013 in a newly configured district, which includes much of Newark and towns in Essex, Union and Hudson counties.”

NEW MEXICO: “Most eyes are on the Democrat primary, where Rep. Martin Heinrich and state auditor Hector Balderas are competing in a gentlemanly race for the nomination to succeed the retiring U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman,” AP writes. “In Albuquerque's 1st Congressional District, three veterans of the Albuquerque political scene are locked in a close and much feistier race for a shot at taking over Heinrich's seat.”